


The Widow and The Snake

by UnscathedPaper



Series: Natasha is Best Mom [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Natasha Romanov, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Kid Fic, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov is best mom, Natasha is still best mom, OC is little snek gurl, Protective Natasha Romanov, Slice of Life, Snek gurl loves Natasha cuz she is awesome, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wanda is best big sister, even if she doesn't like it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-06-03 07:08:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19458940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnscathedPaper/pseuds/UnscathedPaper
Summary: Natasha knew she'd never have a kid.Ophidia didn't even know what a mother was.Mix that common knowledge in with living everyday life around the world's most powerful heroes, learning social norms as introverts and supporting each other through their worst emotional struggles, and you clearly have a recipe for the weirdest Mother/Daughter duo in the world. Here's a look at their strange life through lovely one-shots. (Sequel to Medusa)





	1. Furious Decisions

" _Mic Check. Director Fury, This a recorded Audio Message from me to you. For your record, I state my name as Agent Natasha Romanov, AN: 1-9-8-4. The Date is May the 5th, 2014 and the current time is 9:07 AM_."

Nick Fury leaned back in his chair and waited, fingers pressed together in patience.

" _As I recall from your instructions, the purpose of this message and others moving forward is to keep you updated on the...subject currently residing with us at the tower._ And since this the first message I'm sending you, I might as well start off by explaining the subject as best as I can." A brief pause indicated Romanov gathering her thoughts. " _I suppose we can begin with the physical aspects of her; the subject. In the recent weeks, I've come to designate her as Ophidia._"

Across the table, Hill raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

" _First and foremost, The subject is roughly four years old and female. Her appearance is strongly reptilian; billions of tiny scales make up the entirety of her light green "skin" and her nose is a hybrid between a human's pointed nose and a snake's slanted snout. Like a reptile, her pupils are slitted and she has nictitating membranes; third eyelids that can close beneath the first and second similar to crocodiles. Amazingly enough, she is warm-blooded and as omnivorous as any human would be. She actually enjoys consuming vegetables like spinach, unlike most children her age._ "

Another short-lived pause.

" _Her ears are pointed and mildly lengthy, not to mention sensitive enough to pick up on sounds from 30 yards away. Bruce...er, theorizes that she'll be able to hear even farther than that when she reaches full adulthood. With selective hearing involved, she might be able to hear half a mile away...Now, her scalp is the really interesting part. It's...connected, biologically, to 19 different snakes taking the form of her hair, which flows just past shoulder length. Not sure why Hydra would give her this….trait. In any case, she can't exactly control the snakes; she only speaks to them through a mental link and they choose how to respond to the information she gives. Sixteen of the total number of snakes she has are venomous, including a Branded Krait, Inland Taipan, and a Black Mamba. The three less harmful snakes are a Garter snake, A reticulated python and a green anaconda._ "

Fury blinked. Yeah, he could imagine a few reasons why Hydra would engineer the kid that way.

" _As if her hair wasn't enough of a handful, her teeth are a whole other thing. I know I said she's omnivorous and even enjoys vegetables, but she has mostly sharp teeth surrounding her forked tongue with the exception of a few flat teeth towards the back. She also has her own venom that can be injected through biting; an entirely new neurotoxin that even Banner and Stark combined can't seem to create an antivenom for. They're still working on it though. Now, to make matters even more interesting, consider that her lower jaw can split apart to spit a concentrated version of the venom through glands otherwise hidden. This version is highly acidic, even able to eat away at material designed to hold acid. Titanium seems to work, but even then it breaks down within three hours. She only uses it when she has temper tantrums; a quick scolding should get her to stop._ "

She paused and audibly flipped a bit of paperwork around.

" _As I mentioned before, her skin is actually a closely knit set of scales all across her body, tougher than they feel. Banner theorizes that she is at least knife-proof and they'll only grow tougher with time. I strongly recommend against testing her skin for its limits using knives it other weaponry, as it may have damaging emotional effects. In fact, I didn't quite mention before, but when the serpents perceive a threat to Ophidia based on her emotions they will become highly hostile with other organisms. Testing her skin for its properties would enrage all nineteen snakes and perhaps she herself would react violently out of instinct,_ " She explained briskly. " _There's an odd bone structure right around the middle of her spine, but it doesn't appear to impede body movement. Her fingers and toes are like the pads of a gecko, helping to climb walls if she desires to and they are all spotted naturally. On command, she can unsheath 2 inch claws from these slits for other purposes. I suppose the last physical detail to note of is her bioiluminescence, appearing in the form of bright blue and yellow markings across her face and body at night. Seemingly with ease, she can channel her bioiluminescence to her eyes._ "

Once again, she shuffled papers around, then cleared her throat.

" _Now, for the Emotional Aspects of the subject. When I first brought her to the tower, she was a very antisocial individual and for good reason. I'm...still not sure what Hydra did to her before we arrived, and Rogers is still looking around for any files on her in their bases, but whatever they did do was...severely traumatizing. She doesn't ever leave the room she's in even if I try to coax her and anyone else entering the room other than me can't get within eight feet of her without having to worry about an acid attack or her sobbing in a corner. Even while trusting me the most, she is often wary of any actions I perform for her, as if she is waiting for me to just...hit her or something. She was once covered in scars and bruises,likely from Hydra scientists that kept her locked up, so all my interaction has done is caused her great confusion. No matter how comfortable I get her, I can't get her to relay any events from back in the Hydra base. I'm considering waiting until she is older, to avoid any extra emotional stress on such an innocent mind. But other than those things, she is exceptionally pleased to see me when I enter the room and her learning is rather fast. I haven't taught her as much of the English language as I intend to yet, but she has just enough broken English to say things to me. She has the cutest little lisp in her voice, like a little 'Sss' with s words and…_ "

Nick Fury blinked as Natasha coughed to cover up the giddiness she once had in her voice. Did she say just ' _cutest_ '?

" _Um, that's all I have for the time being. When any important events occur in the future, I'll report back here and…_ " Natasha's voice was cut off by the sound of a door opening in the background, then there was a bit of calm silence. It sounded like Natasha moved to pick up something up from the ground, a little ways from the recorder. " _Hey, kiddo. You left your room…?_ "

A tinier voice piped up, very faintly in the background. " _Wanted. See you_."

" _Well, I'm right here. How ya doing? Ya finished your breakfast…?_ "

" _Mmmhmm. Was. Good._ "

" _Mm, and I bet it was delicious, wasn't it? I'll get one myself later_."

The audio cut completely off after that. Fury changed his stare to be focused upon Hill. "So...whats your verdict?"

"The subject seems dangerous, really." Maria nonchalantly explained. "I don't see why she doesn't want to hand it over to us."

"Subject. _It_. Those are the terms Hydra probably uses too. Alienates us from her, _Ophidia_. Natasha knows this."

Hill grimaced. "So?"

"Treat a kid wrong enough, and they'll grow up to be disloyal at the least and downright scum at the worst. Romanov knows that our hands or somebody else's will eventually stop caring altogether and create a super-powered, backstabbing assassin with biological warfare in her spit. At least with her, the kid can understand things on a more personal level. Even if the kid does grow into a... _supervillain_ , Natasha would be the last thing she'd want to hurt."

"I feel that there's an _And_ coming on."

"And, this is good for her."

"Who?"

"Both of them." Nick Fury stated calmly. "Romanov called the kid highly antisocial, a near replica of herself. Two people with the same personalities are more likely to work off each other than a kid and a bunch of middle-aged secret agents. You heard it in her voice. She's already attached to the girl anyway. The kid responds more favorably to her. She should stay with Romanov."

Maria pursed her lips in thought and then spoke after some silence. "You're right. Like you said...even if the kid did grow into something dangerous...Romanov would have enough of an emotional tie to it...her, to be able to reign her in. Wait, this isn't about a potential recruit for the _Avenger_ s, right?"

Nick Fury stood up and collected his things, ready to leave. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm letting them stay together because Romanov needs some damn friends. If that friend has to be some little snake kid, then so be it."

Maria shrugged as she stood too. "I'm the one always encouraging her to go out more."

* * *

**Well, here's the new story! As I said before, I intend to make this a series of weaved one shots in slice of life style, detailing events from after Winter Soldier to the very end of Endgame. Whether or not these will all be in order is being decided. For now, just sit back and enjoy the cuteness!**


	2. Cause You're A Sky Full Of Stars

Natasha was well adapted to changes in plans. Such was a permanent side effect of her upbringing:adapt to all situations. Her time with the others was meant to bring some of that influence to the team and the kid, and perhaps shape them all to be as good as her. Even they didn't turn out that way, she herself would be ready for anything.

This was different, though. Ophidia _never_ left her room before.

Natasha only came across this startling truth by walking past her bedroom and having the thought to check in on the little girl before she crossed the needed distance to her own bedroom. She assumed she would be walking in to find a tiny snoring body lost amongst a sea of warm blankets and absolute darkness, but was greeted by the sight of dim moonlight filling the room with a distant glow. It took her mere seconds to recognize that the light was streaming in from the window and then a few more seconds to realize that the window was wide open. Given which way the blankets were arranged, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know what had transpired.

Natasha practically flung herself to the window and leaned as far out as she dared to, peering down through the darkness. It was too high up for her to risk going down further across nothing but glass windows. The blaring, noisy cars on the streets would scare her and so would the new sights. As the woman considered where she might go in response to this new environment, she absentmindedly glanced at the concrete portions of the building. It was littered with sets of deep claw marks, creating a trail that snaked upwards towards the roof of Avengers Tower. Natasha blinked, then cursed under her breath.

Tony Stark had a really _funny_ mindset. For a man with all his knowledge of technology and Gamma sciences and even Quantum usage, he never thought it was a good idea to have an elevator that went to the very top of the building. Nat had this strange epiphany about his thought process as she found herself climbing the bolted ladder on the side of the building in nothing but Nike shorts and her usual black tank top. She wouldn't have to be barefoot and freezing to death if she had an elevator to ride up to the top. She probably wouldn't have to be up at this time of night if Ophidia didn't have the sudden urge to escape. Still, she just wanted to make sure the kid was safe and not getting into something dangerous.

Sure enough, when Natasha got to the top, the little escapee was there at the edge of the roof. The child was leaning against the inner edge, sitting and staring up at the sky with a look of interest. The instant Natasha's foot met the cold marble flooring, the girl's head _whipped_ in her direction. Her alarm calmed as she recognized the face of the woman approaching her, and her snake hair flicked their tongues out at the red-haired visitor. " _Natasha_ , " The kid pronounced with difficulty.

"Hey, _you_. I was worried for a second there, " Natasha said carefully, using a calm tone. Even a disapproving voice was tough to use on such an emotionally troubled girl. Plus, it didn't look like she was trying to escape the tower anyway. The woman knelt next to her, starting to cross her legs into a sitting position. "What are you doing up here, anyway?"

To Natasha's surprise, the girl stared lower and hesitated, before actually climbing over into the woman's lap and sitting there. The snake hair occasionally flicked their tongues out at her arms and her tank top but did nothing else. Reptilian or not, the girl's warmth was admittedly helpful in such cold weather. "Pretty, _Pretty_ , " The child announced and pointed at the sky.

Stars. Trillions of them were painting the sky with their glitter-like appearance and twinkling lights. With the aid of an entirely pitch black sky, it was easy to see the stars in all their eye-catching glory and the circular moon off to the side. Most were just a white color, but others had the privilege of being green, or blue or red or purple. The army of stars _easily_ outnumbered Natasha; she imagined no one on earth had actually counted them all up. She remembered long ago, trying to count them all after a particularly bad day to distract herself. It only served to frustrate her with their unending numbers then, but now it was simply nice to watch from below. Like a field of fireflies in the night, the stars above her head glowed and captured all her attention.

Well, almost all of it. She was easily able to catch the kid murmuring: "What _they_?"

Natasha looked down at her. "They're called _stars_." She paused thoughtfully. " They're basically balls of light. Like _tiny_ lightbulbs."

Ophidia craned her neck to look up at her, her cheek resting against Natasha's ribs and her brow furrowed innocently. "How. They get up _there_?"

 _Hmm_. Natasha could have easily conjured a way to explain space and the lack of gravity in it in a way her mind would understand. Instead, she thought for a moment and made a show of scrunching her nose up in thinking mode, before answering: "I thought the sky should look prettier at night. So one day... _I_ put them up there."

Even her snakes blinked. "All by you...ssself?"

"All by myself."

Another surprise of the night slowly appeared. Ophidia grinned toothily, her tiny fangs almost glowing. "You. _Awesssome_ , " She half spoke, half giggled.

Natasha smiled too, matching the girl's. Perhaps it was bad to get attached to the kid this way, but at the moment, her usually stern mind didn't bring this up to her. All the woman cared to do was laugh back and shrug modestly. "Yes. Yes, I think I'm awesome, too."

The two of them looked back up again, at the beautiful stars above.

* * *

**A little something short, sweet and to the point here!**


	3. Eggheads

Natasha was well adapted to learning new things. Such was a permanent side effect of her upbringing- learning to adapt to all situations. Her time with Ophidia was not only a new opportunity to learn, but a very fun opportunity to learn. Not that she would ever admit to having fun in the vicinity of the others, even Clint. And the small reptilian child found learning to fun too. With an ever-growing sense of curiosity about the whole new world around her, Ophidia was very attentive to lessons or facts that her redheaded friend gave her. It may take a few repeats for her to understand the more complicated discoveries of life, but Ophi always managed to mentally grasp things. It would only be a matter of time before she managed to master most of the English language and slightly longer before she could pronounce anything she heard.

The first time Ophidia ever saw a normal egg was the first time she found the courage to follow Natasha out of her room. Nat took the opportunity to explain what every room they passed was, and places she should never go unless she was specifically allowed to. Their little impromptu tour ended when they entered the vast world of the kitchen. Ophidia's tongue flickered out hesitantly and retrieved the scent of hundreds of small metal objects. There was a counter set apart from the larger one, to allow one to walk in the L shaped space. The tile floor felt cold even through her comfy purple socks (given to her by someone Nat referred to as ), and it looked so white that it almost hurt to look at it.

"This is a _refrigerator_. We store food in it so it stays good and fresh, " Natasha said in her usual rich, velvety voice that the girl had become fascinated with hearing. The woman opened a large metal rectangle and retrieved a blue carton from it before closing it. Ophidia recalled seeing many objects in the refrigerator, many of which she couldn't recognize. "Alright, let's see...this is an _egg_."

From the height of Natasha's knees, the girl looked to see her holding up a very round object in her fingers. It was brown like chocolate milk, no bigger than a python's head and full of something liquid. At least, as far as she could tell by using her heightened vision just right. Ophidia climbed onto one of the nearby stools for a better look, her tongue flickering to taste the odd shell. "..Eh...guh." The little girl pronounced slowly. "Ehguh."

"Yep. Egg. Think of it as...a very small chicken. A baby chicken. It's what we eat for breakfast, you know?" Natasha walked over and took a seat next to her. "Of course those were scrambled. There's more than one way to cook an egg."

Ophidia blinked in surprise, then understanding. "How?"

Natasha smiled softly, as she usually did. Never too much, just enough to radiate friendly warmth towards the child. "Let's find out."

And find out they did. Natasha retrieved a circular metal container from a hidden compartment in the side of the counter, then place it on a stovetop to heat up the water she poured inside. Ophidia was completely fascinated by the way bubbles started to form at the very bottom of the container, bewildered by the strange magic being caused by the heat of the tiny flames. Natasha placed about ten or more of the brown eggs in the water just as it really started to produce bubbles, and within a few more minutes the entire container was a bubbling dance of boiling water and brown eggs. When it appeared to Natasha that the eggs were finished doing their Midsummer's jig, she used a strange claw-like tool to fish each one of them out into a bowl.

The woman led her over to a nearby couch situated facing the right entryway of the kitchen, then they both sat with a large of eggs right in-between them. Ophidia's nose twitched as she sniffed at the steaming eggs and then twitched again when Natasha pulled one out to show her.

"This a boiled egg! Thanks to the hot water, its cooked and ready to eat, " Natasha explained, smiling as she motioned calmly to the bowl. "Go on. Take one, "

Her snake hair licked all over the egg when she returned one, all of them equally intrigued by what lay before them. Ophidia timidly placed the boiled egg in her mouth and swallowed it all with a soft gulp. Natasha went rigid suddenly, her smile falling into a face of shock and worry. Ophidia imagined that she was wearing the same look; what did she do wrong? Wasn't she supposed to eat it.

Then understanding came, flashing across Natasha's face and calming her down. She smiled again. "I almost forgot. You can digest the shells and swallow an egg without _chewing_ it." Holding her own egg over the bowl, she used her red nails to cleanly scrape off the shell before taking a bite out of it. "Here. Eat it like me, "

Ophidia followed her movements hesitantly and used her sharp teeth to nibble at the squishy, yet solid contents inside. The child smiled softly at the taste, exploding over her many taste buds with comforting warmth. "L-like it." Ophi announced to her. " _Really_ like it."

Natasha seemed just as happy, just as relaxed as she was. Her smile only made Ophi smile a little wider. She wondered how Nat was so good at being pretty, at making her happy with a grin. She wondered how the woman could be so wise, how she knew how to cook such amazing meals.

A sense of admiration blossomed in Ophidia's chest as they exchanged grins, before they both returned to the boiled egg bowl.


	4. Impossible Love

Natasha never quite saw herself as the kind of person to get deeply attached to anyone or anything. Being a spy definitely helped to seal that kind of personality into her, so that even her teammates found any meaningful conversation difficult. A part of her knew it would be best to work on that kind of mindset if she was to work with a team, but it wasn't going to be easy to remove. Perhaps it was just her training on a personal level; some part of her mind now engraved with the instinct to assume that any fondness people had for her was a ruse to get something. Those who trained her, those few who were but hazy figures in her nightmares, drilled in that there was no such thing as friendship or family or love for her. If there was no place in the world for Natasha, there was no one to love her.

There was one day, however, that would keep her awake in later nights to ponder that till her brain ached.

It was a fairly casual Thursday then, and she was the only Avenger staying behind because of her fractured shin from a previous battle. She spent the better part of her day in Ophidia's room, carefully stationed near the headrest in a sideways laying position. The snake-haired child sat in similar position against Natasha's stomach. She never noticed before that day, but Ophidia had recently taken to studying the woman and then mimicking her movements. If Natasha brushed hair out of her face, Ophidia would bat away her coral snake (much to its confusion). If Natasha ever bit her bottom lip in thought, Ophidia would do the same (carefully, so as not to cut her lip). It was cute to Natasha, and a little endearing if she could admit it to herself.

In any case, the duo were watching some typical movie about teenage girls having some sort of sleepover, complete with all the typical cliches a movie plot like that could have. Nat was wondering just how much more of the nonsense she could stomach in the movie when it came to the usual pillow fighting scene. The moment the giggling, mid-30's actors pretending to be teens started to swing their pillows at each other in mock play, Ophidia twisted her head back to look at her redheaded teacher. "Why are they doing that?"

Natasha, not even batting an eye by now at how the kid could turn her head 180°, blinked. "It's called pillow fighting. People do it for fun, sometimes. It's harmless too since you're just using pillows as your weapons."

Ophidia looked deeply enlightened. "Oh, "

The former SHIELD agent never really saw it coming after that. She just went back to watching the movie again without really paying any attention to anything. Her peripheral vision failed to catch Ophidia shifting in a suspicious way, not until it was far too late to move. Before she could even process it, Natasha had hit in the face by the larger side of a fat pillow. Sure, it didn't hurt in the slightest, but it completely stumped her brain for a few seconds.

She finally noticed a grinning snake girl sitting on her knees, snickering as she held the pillow to her side. "Got you!" She announced proudly, an exact phrase from the movie they were watching.

Natasha might have been momentarily surprised into shock, but she quickly snapped out of it. With a devilish grin, the woman reached for her own pillow just behind her. "Oh _really_?"

With a squeal of laughter, Ophidia lept from the bed and narrowly avoided the pillowed swing at her. The child kept up her infectious giggling as Natasha hopped on one foot to chase her around the small room, occasionally swiping at her and missing. It was almost like they were playfully mimicking the pillow fight madness going on the tv, given how they both made awkward swings at each other. Natasha didn't even move as fast as she could have to chase her, enjoying the peals of laughter coming from Ophi. She was pretty thankful the other Avengers couldn't see this.

Eventually, she sped up just enough to catch Ophi with a soft slap from the pillow and promptly turned to hop onto the bed in a quick getaway. "Alright! Now you gotta catch me." Natasha had to keep going slow for the girl, as it took some time for her small body to actually follow her over the bed and then back around it to start all over again. Ophi never seemed to get frustrated with her lack of progress though, only moving faster to see if she might finally be able to tag her. Natasha finally rewarded her determination by purposely moving just slow enough for the child hit her leg with the pillow. Natasha seized herself up and moved a hand to her heart dramatically. "Oh no! You got me! I'm dyyying, bleeegh!"

She fell over backwards onto the bed and managed to keep herself from smiling or twitching or even breathing. She knew the kid would become curious about her tall friend's fate, climb onto the bed to inspect her and then...she would strike! Tickle attacks always crippled the kid. Natasha waited patiently for the feeling of a small child climbing up, poking and prodding her.

Natasha frowned when she heard a sniffle, squinting out of one eye.

The woman quickly sat up to look, then kneeled down in front Ophi with a deep frown. "Hey, Hey! Wait, I'm- _-_ I was just _kidding_ , Ophidia. Look, I'm alright. I'm alright, see? Look."

Natasha internally cursed herself for going into such a morbid act and for frightening the poor child. Surprised yet tearful, Ophidia blinked at seeing Natasha alive and well. With a whimper, the girl suddenly rushed forward to wrap her arms around Natasha's neck; as if to assure herself that everything was alright. Nat was frozen by the action performed by the girl, by the weight of her settling onto her body and the warm tears hitting her shoulder. She wasn't even aware of what Ophi was doing to her until finally clicked in the form of deja vu, from what her earliest days of training told her.

A hug.

It made sense that she hadn't recognized what it was. She never actually got a hug in her life, from anyone; even Clint. Her earliest trainers kept drilling it into her mind that she would never receive any real affection or love, for she had no place in the world. It was impossible to love someone who didn't deserve it, according to them. She only ever got see hugs from other people, from civilians and from other agents and anyone who wasn't Natasha Romanoff. She only ever got to witness that and feel confident that she wasn't weak like them. That she would never be weak enough to allow anyone to trick her with that and hurt her later. That's what was taught to her for so long.

But this was so different; so very different. With anyone else, her mind would be able to come up with ulterior motives for the hug, like being the first step in gaining the trust of an agent. But with Ophidia, a young and helpless little girl, there was no ulterior motive she could think of. Of course there was no logical reason for the hug aside from...no. That was impossible, wasn't it? Love was impossible for Natasha Romanoff. She couldn't accept it. She wouldn't ever receive truthful love. Like this. Like this hug.

"I'm s- _sorry_ …" Ophidia moaned pathetically into her neck.

Natasha snapped out of her thoughts, out of the tears running her own eyes. As sudden and confusing as the was, she wanted nothing more than for Ophidia to be happy again. She completed the hug for herself with shaky hands, unsure if she was even doing it right. She coughed to clear the lump in her throat. "It's...Its okay. I'm fine. It's okay...Its okay."

 _Love_?

...maybe. Just maybe.


	5. Feelings of The Witch

**In which a little sister meets her big sister.**

* * *

It was Wanda's second night at the Compound.

Second grieving night.

Second time her own tears woke her up.

This time it was slower than last night. Last night had been a fitful few hours of tussling with herself underneath the foreign blankets, then leaping awake out of the nightmare with a gasp of alarm. Then again, leaping out wasn't exactly a good phrase to describe this current part of her life- _-_ there would _never_ be a way for her to escape something like this. While she wasn't stuck in a dark void of nothingness, forced to stare pathetically at a particular bullet-ridden body with silver hair, she was only brought into reality. Reality was arguably worse for her than the nightmare. But anyway, tonight was different because the nightmare took the time to wring the despair and helplessness out her with her own tears.

She wished her...curse allowed her to do anything more than move things and bring fears to life. Wanda wished her curse could alter memories or take them away, so she wouldn't have to remember ever having to bury the body she saw only days ago. Or maybe she would rather go back in time, to stop herself from affecting Stark's mind the way she did. All that transpired after was a direct result of her own doing. Reminding herself of this only made her all the more anguished, curling in on herself and burying her soaked face into the pillow. It just wasn't fair to her.

It wasn't fair that her parents had to leave them so soon, killed by something outside of their control. It wasn't fair that her so-called powers had to be as monstrous as this, a violent manipulation of red energy from her fingers. It wasn't fair that the one man she hated and blamed for her parent's demise offered her a home that she did not deserve with his teammates, all of whom gave her undeserved sympathy. Most of all, It wasn't fair that she was now the only surviving member of the Maximoff family.

Wanda sniffled loudly, but it wasn't loud enough to cover the sound.

 _Skik_.

She slowly but surely forced herself down to quiet sniffling, trying to pinpoint the location of the noise from where she lay. But there was nothing there now aside from the tiny pitter-patter of rain from the darkness outside. She could have sworn she heard something though.

 _Skik_.

There. Something in the corner behind her, like squeaking metal. Wanda defensively flinched as the sound continued on, and she slowly but surely crept her way out of the bed and onto the floor. Gradually creeping around the foot of the bed, she held her hands at the ready without actually conjuring any of her curse. She flinched when she looked towards the air-conditioned grates at the bedroom corner.

The screws were being pushed out, and glowing blue eyes sat in the darkness behind the metal.

By the time she even began to move, the screws fell to the floor with soft clatter. When the grating was bent halfway down, Wanda lept in front of the grating with her lowers glowing fiercely around her wrists and fingers. She was only nanoseconds from using her telekinesis to grip the neck of whatever was slithering in through the grating, but those precious nanoseconds stopped her from strangling the small child staring back at her.

She blinked in confusion at the small, wide eyed thing before her. She blinked at her green skin, or rather scales. She blinked at her snake hair willing and squirming in a cautious state. She blinked at her reptilian pupils, filled with innocence and obliviousness to how close she was to being killed.

"H'llo, " The girl said, clutching a tiny brown stuffed rabbit to her chest.

Wanda's eyes widened; she recognized the girl. When she was first brought to the Avengers tower, she would often catch fleeting glimpses of a small green shape peeking at from corners or the hissing of snakes despite not seeing any nearby. When Wanda worriedly brought this up to Natasha Romanoff the older woman smirked and rolled her eyes. She explained that it was just a girl found from a Hydra base that often acted that way when shy and uncertain of how to greet newcomers.

Natasha failed to mention that the kid was some kind of human/reptile hybrid with snake hair.

The little girl carefully shuffled out a little more when Wanda's red energy slowly disappeared. Timid, she looked up at the Maximoff and then diverted her gaze. "Um...I'm Ophidia. I, uh...I sleep in the room next door now."

Hmm, she was... _adorable_ for a snake girl. Wanda wasn't sure why she didn't respond, but she kept quiet and just observed the girl with a readable look of discomfort and impatience. Adorable or not, invading her room was not something she took kindly to. And she wasn't in the best of emotional states right now.

"Um...I can hear things really well. Like...from far away and stuff. My bestest friend Natasha, she says that I have super hearing; like a superhero." Ophidia continued, playing with the rabbits ears in some small attempt to hide her nervousness. "And,um...I just heard you crying…"

The Maximoff resisted the urge to groan. She was keeping the kid up with her self wallowing pity. She was about to mutter an apology when the girl reached back for something in darkness and then walked over to her nightstand to place it there.

"Tissue, " A small, yet toothy grin was on the girl's face. "So your pillow doesn't get wet. When I get sad nightmares, Natasha gives me tissue too,"

Wanda gazed at the kleenex box in surprise, numbly looking from it back to the girl. She was tugging something else through from the air duct, something which quickly turned out to be a tiny turquoise blanket with yellow glow in the dark stars. As she placed it on the bed, she stated: "Natasha gave me this blanket. I always wrap myself in it when I feel sad, and maybe it'll help you too!"

Once again, Wanda found herself surprised into a speechless state by what the girl was doing, unable to say and hardly think anything in response. Then Ophidia approached once more, holding up her stuffed rabbit.

"This is Mr. Fluffynose. He's a rabbit; see his floppy ears?" She held it up as high as she could reach to Wanda who belatedly grasped the toy for her to inspect herself. Her fingers trembled against the inviting softness of the fur, but the girl didn't notice. "He's like, my second best friend in the whole wide world...When I'm sad and have bad dreams, and Natasha isn't here, he helps me get good sleep. "

Wanda's eyes seemed to blurring with tears again, but she didn't feel sad. As she contemplated this, the girl continued. "Be very gentle with him, cause he's shy. And sensitive. But he's a really good listener when you want someone to talk to. And he likes warm, happy hugs too. So, he'll give you hugs that'll make you happy again."

Slowly, Wanda tore her eyes away from the rabbit that reminded her very much of her own childhood, when she was no older than the little girl before her. She found the child smiling a little brighter now, so innocent and small. "I will too, if you want. I really hope you like him, Ma'am."

Silence filled the distance between the two, and Wanda reached up to wipe at her wet cheeks with her wrist. She felt like sobbing all over again, but she held her composure enough to smile too. Not a fake grin, but a genuine smile. "...I...I do like him..."

Ophidia smiled even more, but eventually slunk her way back into the air ducts, pulling the grate back into place before disappearing entirely. Wanda partly wished she'd used the door instead, but she didn't feel it in her to hold her discomfort for long. She breathed in and sighed a sleepy sigh, before regarding the blanket and the rabbit thoughtfully.

Natasha checked on Wanda in the morning. She was fast asleep, cuddling a particular stuffed rabbit and a blanket.

* * *

**Wanted a small future One-shot with Ophidia and Wanda, since I definitely like the idea of her playing big sister to the smol gorgon child. I'll have to show interactions of Ophidia with the other Avengers.**


	6. BLEGH ITS ME

Natasha was well adapted to being cautious. Such was a permanent side effect of her upbringing-be cautious about all situations. Her time with the others was meant to bring some of that cautious influence to the team, and perhaps shape them to be as good as her. Though by now she'd come to accept that her teammates were the most disorganized, aloof mess with no hope of ever being remotely cautious about a situation. She would just have to hope that a certain little girl, who had grown used to copying Natasha's mannerisms by now, would someday have the same caution as her.

Although, if you let Clint Barton tell you, Natasha was more worried than cautious.

To understand why, Ophidia had managed to adjust to the presence of most of the other Avengers over the course of the past month. About four weeks since Ophidia had learned enough of the English language and its grammar to hold decent conversations with Natasha, or more likely to ask questions about things the girl didn't understand. Two weeks since the child's last nightmare, or at least the last time that Nat winced from hearing sobbing through the walls. The girl would usually flee the scene or camouflage herself when someone other than Natasha was present, but things had changed in those two weeks. Hilariously enough, it started with Bruce Banner.

Perhaps not hilariously, per se. It made sense to Natasha that a quiet, reserved man would be able to make the first connection with a quiet, reserved little girl. It was a night during which both of them had the urge for a glass of water, and both ended up in the kitchen around the same time. Bruce mentioned that she likely would have bolted if he had said anything, but he kept quiet and just casually got his glass of water. Ophidia was left at the tower with Bruce not many days later since the team had no need for a Code Green at the time. When Natasha came back, she was surprised to find the girl intently listening to Bruce as he explained the concept of Chess to her. Nowadays, Bruce is gladly teaching her 5th-grade mathematics and occasionally building a baking soda volcano. He says her eyes light up at the mere mention of building one, and it's the exact same thing he did as a kid. Natasha doesn't say so, but she is pleased to see a possible connection from Bruce to Ophi.

Tony Stark was surprisingly the second person to become slightly closer to her, and Steve Rogers was incidentally right behind him. They were both at the tower one rainy day, heading past the kitchen and just managed to glimpse Ophidia attempting to put eggs into a pot of water before she noticed the two and disappeared. She returned a half hour later thanks to Tony joking that they should finish boiling the eggs for her and Steve cluelessly taking him seriously. The three then stood around the kitchen island for a while, Tony cracking jokes to make her laugh and Steve blowing her mind with tales of the 1940s. They did note that she seemed to want to keep a good distance the whole time, but it was still a massive improvement over just running away.

Clint may have been last, but he required the least effort. In fact, he just walked into the room one day when Natasha was creating a secret handshake with the girl. He handed her a bracelet she forgot in the training room and nodded to Ophidia without her ever even flinching. Ophi later told her that Clint's "scent" was similar to Natasha's and made her feel safer. Nat was curious about what her scent was like, but she had a feeling she didn't want to know the details.

In any case, her real worry rested with how Thor's interaction with her would be.

Ophidia never avoided anyone as intensely as Thor and for reasons Natasha wasn't sure about. One theory she considered was that Thor's size and looks caused her to compare him to someone from Hydra's ranks that she had the misfortune of meeting, but Ophidia never expressed such to Nat. The better theory was that Thor was simply a very intimidating man without trying to be; what with his above-average height, booming footsteps and even louder tone when he spoke to people (Natasha often wondered if Asgardians even knew what whispering was to begin with.) It made sense that a complete opposite of Ophidia's personality would make her afraid of the god of thunder,but hopefully, it wouldn't be a long-lasting fear, not with way Natasha intended to handle it.

"Natasha? Excusse me?" The quiet little voice next to her, lisping adorably with a slight hiss, finally got the Black Widow out of her fretful daze. When she turned to Ophidia with a questioning hum, the girl was holding a small bottle of Honey up. "Why does the Honey in Winnie the Pooh look different from this?"

Natasha smiled warmly, mildly amused. "Cartoons always make stuff look different. Just like how pizza looks different, you know? The Pizza in TMNT isn't nearly as gooey as ours."

"I wish it was, " Ophidia murmured quietly. She spoke again a heartbeat later. "Veri says she wishes the real world pizza wasn't so greasy."

Some time ago, perhaps a week or two, Ophidia expressed her desire to name her own hair-each little snake. Natasha wouldn't mind if she could just keep up with which snake was which. She knew the Green Anaconda was Bert and The Burmese Python was Perry, but the names of the others remained an ever-present mystery. She pursed her lips in thought. "Sorry, Ophi. Could you...remind me which one Veri is?"

A mixture of exasperation and amusement crossed the child's features. She pointed to her Black Mamba. "This one, silly! I thought you said you had a memory like an elephant!"

"Noooo, " Natasha smirked. "I said I have ears like an elephant."

Ophidia giggled lightly, and started to say something in response to that, but a loud voice interrupted from somewhere in the left hallway.

"Friends! Comrades! You were right! A mango smoothie is indeed refreshing!"

Oh boy. It was surprising that Natasha was faster than the girl, given that she managed to block off her escape route with an arm. "Ophi, wait."

Ophidia grimaced worriedly and spared a glance at the hall entrance, knowing that in mere seconds Thor would be entering the kitchen. Natasha tried to make eye contact with her. "Ophi, there's no reason to be scared. Thor is a very-"

" _Scared_?" The girl's nose scrunched in confusion, her eyes narrowing in indignance. "I'm not scared."

The redhead's eyes widened. "...You aren't?"

"Nope."

"Then why don't you ever stay?"

Ophi stared down at her hands shamefully, her hair hissing and squirming lightly in reflection of her emotions. It took a raised eyebrow from Natasha to break the pregnant silence. "...He won't like me."

Natasha blinked. "He- _what_?"

"He won't like me." Ophidia repeated adamantly. "I read this book on Norse Mythology, cuz it has Mr. Thor and stuff. And it says he has to fight a _really_ big snake in the ground someday, and if he has to do that he probably won't like snakes at all…!"

Despite the saddening pout the girl wore, Natasha couldn't help but snort. Honestly, anyone else would have after fretting as intensely as she had, only to find that it was all based on a silly worry. The woman shook her head as she grasped one of Ophi's hands and squeezed gently. "Kid, He's not gonna care about any of that. "

Ophi pouted harder. "But the book-"

"Is wrong. There's a lot of information in there that Thor pointed out is wrong-Jormungandr being one of them!" Natasha explained casually. "Besides, you're not entirely a snake."

"I...I'm not?"

"Nope." She pressed a finger to her small nose playfully. "You've got about 80% awesome in there too."

As she hoped, Ophidia giggled at the boop to her nose. While her smile was still uncertain towards the thought of meeting Thor, she still seemed to trust Natasha. Enough to not flinch too hard when Thor finally stomped his way into the room, with a severely exhausted-looking Clint Barton in tow. The former Shield Agents in the room made eye contact with each other; Clint glanced at Ophi questioningly and Natasha pressed her lips into a thin line. Clint understood well enough.

Thor was the next to make eye contact with her, with grinning broadly without a care in the world. "Ah, Widow! A glorious day it is, eh? The Archer and I had a battle at another Hydra Outpost, one truly worthy of song!"

"Uh, nice." Natasha hurriedly said. In the event that he decided to try his hand at a song about the battle, she hurriedly added. "Uh, Thor? Try not to make so much noise and walk over to me slowly."

The odd request certainly snapped out of his excitement, as evidenced by the confused look on his face. He glanced back at Clint before shrugging and proceeding to make a show of slowly walking towards them. Natasha gently coaxed Ophidia out from behind her with a hand. Her snakes were no longer hissing, but silent and keeping directing behind the girls head, while the girl herself looked ready to bolt. Natasha nodded to her as she came into full view. "Thor, this is-"

" _ **SNAKES**_!" The room vibrated with the voice of the Thunderer, who was somehow smiling even wider than before as he kneeled to Ophi's level. "I love snakes!"

Natasha bristled at the outburst, her eyes narrowing. " _Thor_! I just said to be-"

"You do?"

She looked down to a welcome surprise; Ophidia baring a timid smile as she stepped towards Thor and her snake hair starting to make more of an appearance. "You like snakes?"

"Oh! You must be the young maiden I've heard so much about from Natasha! Your hair truly is magnificent!" Thor boasted in amazement, unknowingly doing wonders for the kid's pride. "Snakes are my favorite of Midgard's animals! They're just so awesome, you know?"

Ophidia was almost smiling as widely as he was. "Wow, thanks Mr….uh, O-Odinson?"

Thor shook his head with a scoff. "D'oh, you are a friend, fair Maiden! Call me Thor."

Ophidia looked up at Natasha, a giggle riddling her voice. "Natasha, I'm Thor's friend now!"

Once again, Ophi proved her smile to be contagious to the older woman. Nat smirked as Clint shuffled over to her side. "What'd I tell ya?" She glanced at Barton from her sidelong angle. "Fun day with Thor?"

Clint tiredly shrugged. "He misses a lot of spots, I'll tell ya that much…Hmm. Who woulda thought?"

"Hmm?"

"Thor is _almost_ as good with kids as you are."

Natasha rolled her eyes, but her smile refused to leave as she watched Ophidia try and explain to Thor all the names of her snakes.


	7. Quiet Christmas

Wanda didn't do much mission work in her early days, or rather early months, as an Avenger. Part of her absence from being a team member stemmed from who she'd been previously aligned with and how that misguided partnership ended up sparking mistrust with some of the public. Another part of it was her needing rest from many things. She'd been through the loss of close family and her homeland collectively, results from her aforementioned partnership. Such prices had a heavy toll on her emotional state, which for a period of time, made her control of her abilities very unstable. With that short list of important issues to work out, The Avengers performed their missions with the additions of Rhodey, Sam and the ever-curious Vision. Wanda, on several occasions, was left alone for weeks at a time with no one else.

No one else, save for  _ Ophidia _ .

Since Natasha was one of the many to go on long missions, it was often that she personally left Wanda in charge of keeping an eye on the child and making sure she didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to. The Maximoff didn't mind of course; Ophi could be as mildly irritating as Pietro was sometimes, but she never actually meant it. Any pranks she played were virtually harmless, she didn't make hide and seek too difficult and she was unbelievably observant sometimes. When Wanda was clearly downtrodden, there was usually an extra-long hug to be had or a cookie to be given. Perhaps her sense of emotions in others was a habit she picked up from Natasha giving the same attention to her.

It was mid-morning. Wanda was settled in her bed, her blankets were drawn to her stomach and a book nestled in her raised lap. The December weather brought snow to the Avengers compound and a good chunk of New York itself, but only in the form of a light drizzle. Flurries fluttered past her large window lazily, barely seen against a backdrop of white. Such a cold world outside only made the Maximoff seem warmer inside the room. Slowly, just like the snowflakes outside, she turned the page and began to continue the invigorating story. Alas, her reading time of an hour was to be put on hold, when the door to her room suddenly burst open and a green blur zipped inside.

Before the young woman could quite blink, the child was hopping up and down on her bed urgently. "Wanda, Wanda! You gotta do something! It's  _ bad _ !"

Wanda's face paled. If she'd started a fire trying to boil eggs by herself again, Nat wouldn't be too pleased. Reluctantly, she bookmarked her story and set down for later reading. "What did I tell you about boiling eggs without me? You ask me f--"

"No, no! Not that!" Ophidia whined worriedly, ducking down next to Wanda and cowering. "There's something wrong with the sky! It's making white stuff!"

Silence reigned as she tried to make sense of what the kid was saying. And when it did, she gave the small girl a very deadpan stare. "Ophidia, what are you talking about?" She gestured to the window full of frosty flakes. "That's  _ snow _ . Your favorite movie is  _ Frozen _ , and you're scared of the real thing?"

Ophidia stopped shuddering, then slowly rose to peer from behind Wanda's shoulder. Her snakes timidly did the same, having been hidden behind Ophi's head in a mock ponytail. After confirming the similarities for herself, the child blinked amazement. "Oh. It looks different on TV. Less fluffy."

Wanda resisted the urge to smile as she climbed over into her lap and curled into a very warm ball. "Yeah, sure…" She frowned and angled her head to make her gaze meet the girl's. "So, you've never seen snow before, ever?"

Ophi shook her head. "Nope. The tower was higher up than this place and I couldn't see below. I used to think that there was a cool Elsa Avenger lady or someone that makes snow for everyone. But then Mr.Banner told me it's like frozen rain...or something. I wish he were  _ here _ ..."

Wanda noted the crestfallen droop of her hair and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be back someday. Maybe even by Christmas."

Whatever slightly depressed mood had suddenly been thrust on her disappeared just as quickly. Ophi brightened up with a smile in her direction, a stark contrast to the confused look Wanda was sure she had. "Ooh! Ooh!" Ophidia went silent, with timing in her own mind, and then began singing: "Do you wanna build a  _ snowmaaaaan _ ?"

"Say what now?"

"A snowman! It's the perfect time to go outside and play!" Ophidia explained to her, shifting her body until her back was against Wanda's lap and her crossed we're shoved somewhat painfully into her stomach. "We can make snow angels, and snow castles, and have snowball fights and sled in Mr.Rogers' shield and--"

Wanda butted into the conversation before it could erupt into rambling. "Uh, Ophi, I don't really want to do that. Besides, Natasha told me being in cold weather is fatal for you!"

"But before Mr.Bruce left, he and Mr.Stark made me a heat-suit. It's like a super-thin onesie that keeps me warm in cold weather!"

Wanda kept herself from wondering why those two science bros couldn't have made suits like that for the whole team. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned back against the bedrest. "I still don't want to go outside."

Ophidia pouted at her. "But whyyyyy?"

The Maximoff swallowed her memories in an instant, shifting the girl harmlessly off her lap. "My answer is reason enough."

"But--"

"No, Ophidia," Wanda said reluctantly, yet somehow firmly as well. She watched as the girl shut her mouth instantly, eyes squinting in adorable frustration at the older of the two. Rather than allow her to try and convince her again, Wanda gestured to the book. "Unless you're wanting to sit with me in silence, you're going to have to leave. I have a book to catch up on."

Ophi fixed with a determined stare, her snakes hissing as a reflection of the girl's agitated state. But instead of letting herself become too irritated, the girl surprisingly breathed. Wanda blinked as she gave a small sigh and tore her eyes away. "...I just want you to be  _ happy _ ."

Wanda tried to hold an unreadable expression in response to that statement. "I'm...what?"

"I have senses. Or...thats what Natasha tells me. It helps me detect emotions in a really...scientific way." Ophidia shrugged her small shoulders. "And I can sense you're never really happy. For some reason, you're just super sad all the time. I don't like you sad, I like you happy. But I never know why you're not. Is...Is it  _ me _ ?"

" _ No _ . No, it's not you." Wanda found herself blurring almost immediately after that timid question. The thought of an innocent child like her worrying about her effects on others made the woman feel painfully guilty. "Don't ever think you're making me sad...I just…"

Ophi crawled forward little and grasped Wanda's hand. It was always a little amusing that the child's hands were so tiny compared to hers. "Tell me. Pretty please?"

Wanda sighed to herself, trying to find it within herself to just deny the request. It took a moment before she finally answered. "Did Natasha...ever tell you about my brother?"

"Um...not very much..just,um...what happened to him." The child tilted her head in thought, frowning in sympathy. "You're...sad cause he's not here."

The Maximoff slowly nodded, thumbs lightly twiddling with each other. She managed to keep from thinking about the last winter she had with him, where they were both still under the leadership of Strucker but allowed certain freedoms. It had been cold, but Pietro insisted on a little bit of 'power testing' with the snow. He'd ran in a little circle that piled up the snow, then she used her abilities to carve distinguishable features into it. That was the best winter she had since her parents surprised them with toys as children. "..Yes...I guess, I'm just afraid I'll have a bit of fun and then...get sad thinking about him."

Ophi slowly nodded, squeezing Wanda's hand once. "Do you...think he would want you to be comfortable for Christmas?"

"Um...yes?"

"...okay."

She slowly settled down right next to Wanda, this time tucking herself in under the blankets and resting her small head against her arm. Wanda settled herself when she caught herself flinching at the affectionate posture Ophi had, her eyes looking up at her. "If reading is what you want to do, can I stay and listen?"

Wanda quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "That's...Thats it? You  _ don't _ want to go outside anymore?"

"Nope! I wanna stay here with you!" The girl's Burmese python curled around Wanda's arm affectionately. "Whatcha reading?"

At first, it was puzzling to see that she actively wanted to stay and listen...before realisation came. While Ophi did want to build a snowman outside, she seemed to...care more about Wanda and what she wanted to do. It was actually somewhat mature for a kid to not only accept not being able to do what they wanted, but to try and enjoy what another was doing. The woman was silent for a moment, trying and failing to stop the smile from coming to her face. She stammered for a second, then shrugged and held up the book. The prospect of being able to read to someone, or even just share the company of another was an idea she was starting to warm up to. "Uh, I'm reading a Christmas Carol. It's about a mean old man that eventually learns the error of his ways after meeting three  _ ghosts _ ."

Ophi's eyes sparkled more. " _ Yaaay, ghosts _ !"

Wanda smiled warmly in response, and opened the book to begin.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hav gud Xmas


	8. A Patient Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophi wants to be taller

"Hey Wanda, hand me my holster, will ya?"

"Yeah, sure."

  
  


Ophidia watched in silent awe as Wanda handed her what was requested and Natasha holstered her batons.

Today was the day of another Avengers mission, one where Nat and Wanda were involved. They'd be going in one of the Quinjets to some dangerous land overseas to fight bad guys and kick their butts. It happened a lot before the mean robot guy, and now it was even cooler now that Wanda went along on missions. Ophidia could only gush at the thought of Wanda's awesome red power stuff used in action with Nat's cool super-spy skills. There were only two things that ever seemed wrong with these events. One being that Mr.Bruce was never around anymore, having gone far away on vacation, as Nat explained it. The only thing cooler than her two favorite superheroes in action would be her three favorite superheroes after all.

The second thing was Ophidia herself. She hadn't quite known it at first, but by now the young girl knew she longed to be helpful to her favorite heroes. Not by organizing Nat's weaponry or helping Wanda with her aim, or a combination of both. The girl wanted to be a physical help; to join them in kicking the butts of bad guys and keeping people safe...to keep  _ them _ safe. There were times that Ophi vividly recalled of Natasha coming back from a mission worse for wear, sporting bruises to the face or even a fractured bone somewhere. While Wanda hadn't come back with any injuries like that yet, Ophi wanted to be there to extend that kind of luck. If only she were bigger.

"Hey, kid. What's on your mind?"

Ophi looked up sharply. Through the mirror in front of her, Natasha was gazing back at the girl expectantly. "Uh...nothing."

Natasha, always the one who seemed to sense anything off with Ophidia at all times, pursed her lips. "Doesn't seem like nothing. Seem like nothing to you, Wanda?"

Wanda crossed her arms. "Seems like  _ something _ ."

Ophidia humphed and crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out at the double-crosser. After Wanda did it right back, the girl looked to Natasha's reflection. "I just wanna be taller, is all."

"I can ask Mr.Stark to make stilts for ya."

"No, I wanna actually be tall. Tall enough to go with you guys."

Natasha turned to her with a soft smile. "You can't go about wishing you could grow up faster. Savor your childhood."

Ophidia sighed and looked down at the shiny metal floor, her own reflection looking back up at her. "You don't understand…"

After a brief bit of silence, Natasha's boots stopped before her reflection. The woman herself crouched down to be at eye level with Ophidia, who pouted up at her. "No, I do." She still smiled, perhaps wider. "You want to help us do the right thing. I'm proud of you for that. Because you already have the makings of a hero."

The girl's eyes widened. "...I do?"

"That's right." Wanda helpfully added. "Maybe even more than either of us."

"Who knows how soon it'll be before you're with us? Just try to be patient." Natasha held up a hand for a high five. "Deal?"

Ophidia crumbled; she smiled widely and slapped her tinier palm to the woman's. "Deal."

With the girl's heightened sense of hearing, she was able to detect the buzz of Natasha's commlink. "Alright team, " Mr.Roger's voice said. "Let's head out."

Natasha stood to her full height again and smiled as she and Wanda began to head towards the door. "We should be back by the end of the day. Try not to worry about us, okay?"

Ophidia nodded obediently, but couldn't stop the slightest tinge of worry when they both disappeared through the doorway. With a sigh, she found herself looking down at her own reflection again. She imagined herself bigger--taller and doing amazing fighting moves like Natasha. She smiled a little.

She just had to be patient.

* * *

A Long Time Later…

Natasha just barely managed to duck behind the destroyed car, bullets whizzing over her head by the time she finally hid enough.

She'd clearly underestimated just how many fodders she'd be going up against this time. A brief glance through a cracked window offered her a glimpse of a small army advancing in her direction. Two big trucks, perhaps a dozen armed soldiers would be upon her in mere minutes. Just her luck that her Commlink fell out of her ear at some point, leaving her technically stranded from any help. The Black Widow reloaded her pistols quickly as more gunfire soon peppered the car. While it was holding up enough, she doubted it would be the perfect cover for too much longer. Given the nature of her circumstances, it made sense for her to be utterly dumbfounded when one of the soldier's landed unconsciously in front of her.

She looked through the window again, to see what was going on. One of the truck's had caved in one side, and now the whole thing was being picked up and used like a sort of oversized baseball bat. Soldiers were knocked aside by the invisible force wielding the truck, scattered bodies laying everywhere as the unseen assault continued. The other truck tried to back out and the demolished vehicle was quickly discarded. The driver of the truck was yanked through the windshield and thrown to the dirt before the entire truck was slowly pushed over onto it's back.

By this point, Natasha got up in relief and walked towards the invisible rescuer, clapping sarcastically. "Very efficient work, kid."

Ophidia timidly faded out from her camouflaged state, grinning slightly. Some days, Natasha truly wondered how a little girl who barely reached the height of her knee grew to be a head taller than Thor. While dark green vest and ensemble were peppered with bullet holes, it seemed her bulletproof scales were working out even better than she expected. 

"Really?" She asked, voice slightly deeper than her childhood days. Her long tail swished on the ground behind her. "This isn't like a fake compliment or anything?"

Natasha smiled even as she rolled her eyes. "You've got a little more work to do, of course...but not bad for your third mission."

"Yes!" Ophidia smiled wider, brushing back a snake from her head full of students, increased since her younger days. "Are we done here, though? I'm kinda starving."

Nat laughed a little as she started off in the direction of the other Avengers. "Your metabolism never ceases to amaze me."

"Well, just be _patient_." Ophi gave her a cheeky grin as she followed. "And maybe it will."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to show a brief glimpse at what the future could be like! I do plan on doing a chapter or three on her growth spurt eventually. And then maybe stuff like Civil War, IW, and Endgame...as sad as that will be.


	9. Zoo

Before the Avengers got their tiny little friend, Bruce Banner found that his time between missions were periods of boredom and restlessness. It wasn't that there weren't a lot of things to do, of course. He was a developing scientist after all, with newfound access to technology and equipment to continue some research he never thought he'd get to again. And sometimes another Avenger like Tony, or even Steve, would offer him company. But those times were far and few between, as well as the missions where the other guy was even needed. He never really noticed how unfulfilling it was until Ophidia came along.

Bruce suspected that it was the fun of teaching an unbiased, young, willing mind about all new things. Ophidia's brain wasn't at its full potential, but it didn't matter given it was sharp as it was now and had a bright future ahead of it. It was an exciting notion; the things he could teach her now that her adult brain could be able to expand on. With his teaching, he supposed, she may even become one of the world's leading scientists and a developer of cures and broad solutions! Additionally, one of his dreams before the lab accident was to one day be a physics professor to college students to play a part in the world's future generations. Ophidia was very far from that stage in life, but he'd accept this one chance regardless.

His growing friendship with the young Hydra experiment evolved beyond teaching her mathematics or Physiology. Sometimes there would be lessons and treats. Sometimes they just watched Bill Nye on television or played against each other in a round or two of checkers. Rarely, they would both venture outside of the tower...like today. Today, he and the little girl were at the zoo; her first-ever time visiting one. It was only Bruce's second time there, and the first had been cut short by his ill-tempered father. To avoid the glaring issue of the public seeing Ophidia's...exotic genetic makeup, Natasha gave her a specially modified hologram mask to make the girl appear entirely human--A blued eyed, brunette girl with freckles at that. Ophidia was very confused about why she had to wear it, but she wore it anyway despite Bruce and Natasha's poor attempts at explaining things to her.

If the girl was still in doubt over anything, the Zoo did a marvelous job of making her forget it. Every sight and smell within the area distracted her and demanded her attention. Bruce carried her with a single-arm, acting as her mode of transportation to and from different exhibits. While he wasn't a biologist by any means, the man tried his best at answering her awestruck questions about the animals. 

"They're not Dinosaurs?"

Bruce shook his head, watching as a Zookeeper held out a handful of food to an eager giraffe. "No, they aren't sauropods. Though they do have a sort of resemblance, huh?"

Ophidia squinted as the giraffe ate from the hand of the Zookeeper in a few short bites. "Do they headbutt each other?" She pointed at the small horns on the giraffe's head.

"Ah, no. No, they're mostly just...there. " Bruce explained. "Giraffes like to hit their necks against each other, you know? Not headbutt, though."

The girl frowned. "Well, shouldn't they have horns on their necks then?"

"No, no. Neck horns aren't very fashionable this season."

"Oh! That makes sense." Something in the distance behind Bruce got her attention, causing her face to brighten up. "Woah! Look! It's the reptile ex-bit!"

"Exhibit." Bruce smiled as he corrected her, slowly setting her down on the ground. "I can tell you wanna get a headstart. Don't go too far in though."

Ophidia nodded excitedly as she scampered towards the indoor exhibit. Bruce quietly followed after her, tearing his eyes off the feeding Giraffe and keeping an eye on the small child. She was smaller than the other kids that seemed to be in her age group, something that made Bruce wonder about Hydra's intentions with her.

**Puny.**

Bruce grimaced more, sighing through his nose. He should have guessed he wasn't going to have an entirely peaceful day.

**Puny like Banner.**

"Go away." Bruce demanded quietly.

**Make me, Banner. Too puny. Both of you** **_too_ ** **puny.**

The man sighed deeply through his nose, and resolved to ignore the second thoughts swirling in his brain. The voice continued with:  **Want out** .

Bruce shook his head sharply, briefly. "No. I'm going to do what I came to the zoo for, and that's to treat the kid to her first visit--"

**Want out.**

"Mr.Bruce? "

He looked up from the ground. Ophidia was standing at the doorway arch to the reptile exhibit, smiling brightly in his direction. But even with her blinding grin, he could tell it wouldn't be long before it deflated into a more concerned expression. "Are you coming? I want to show you all the snakes!"

The Scientist was all too thankful for the distraction, and surprised all in the same breath. The Other guy started to say something to him, but Bruce was too quick to smile off his second half. "Sure. Let's...Lets do that."

Bruce walked inside after her, bringing along an angry yet somewhat curious Hulk.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some minor little Bruce and Ophi thing! Hope you enjoyed it! I'm considering doing an arc about Ophi wanting a puppy ^^


End file.
